Diara Spain: There's something in the water

In honor of Mother's Day, I offer this diagnosis: There must be something in the water.

It seems as if most of my female relatives, friends and colleagues can be divided into four categories: thinking of having a baby, trying to have a baby, pregnant or has a young child.

I suspect this sounds familiar to many women over the age of 26. My biological clock seems to be ticking faster each year. I, too, am thinking of having a baby.

Over the past two years, I have vicariously enjoyed the ups and downs of the pregnancy, birth and motherhood experiences of my best friend.

Just last week, I was playing with the baby during bath time and my friend mentioned switching from the lavender bubble bath. She had heard lavender-scented products were associated with estrogen-like chemicals causing premature sexual development. I found this puzzling and decided to do a little research.

I found a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine that concluded a few boys had developed breast tissue from using products containing lavender/tea tree oils. Numerous studies in pediatric journals provided examples of premature sexual development in girls resulting from personal care products containing estrogens or chemicals with estrogen-like properties.

Need more proof that the safety of our children's products is in jeopardy?

Earlier this year, laboratory tests identified a hidden petrochemical in dozens of children's bath products. The chemical, 1,4-Dioxane, is considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is on California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer or birth defects.

How are toxic chemicals making their way into our children's bodies? There is almost no regulation of these products by the Food and Drug Administration or other federal and state agencies. Product manufacturers test for short-term exposure reactions, such as skin irritation.

But what about the cumulative effects of decades of exposure to the chemicals in our products? Scientific research indicates that chemicals in bath products, lotions, hair products and cosmetics enter our body via our skin and scalp. Once in the bloodstream, they are transported everywhere and may be used or excreted.

Indeed, there is something in the water - from the body wash used from infancy up to the hair products and makeup used by adults.

I urge you to learn about an advocacy group, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (www.safecosmetics.org). The national coalition is working to protect our health and safety by requiring the cosmetics industry to eliminate chemicals in our everyday cosmetics and personal care products linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm.

What about all those chemicals on your ingredient labels that you can't pronounce? Go to Skin Deep, an online database that provides safety rankings for more than 15,000 ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products (www.ewg.org/skindeep).

As a potential mother, I worry about myself, my family and friends.

What about you?

Diara Spain is an assistant professor of biology at Dominican University of California in San Rafael.